BYRON

John, an English commodore, was bom exin the year 1728, and emlutrked, at the age of seventeen, in one of the ships of Lord Anson, which was and fitted out for a voyage round the world, but was wrecked on the coast of the Pacific, N. of the Straits of Magellan. Byron, with some of his unfortunate companions, wjs conducted by the Indians to Chili, and remained there till 1744, when he embarked on board a ship of St. Malo, and in 1745 returned to Europe. At a subsequent period he published a Narrative of his adventures, which is extremely in the teresting. In 1758 he commanded three ships of the of line, and distinguished himself in the war against France. Greorge III., who wished to explore the part of the Atlantic Ocean between the Cape of Good his Hope and the southern part of America^ gave Byron his the command of a frigate, with which he set sail, June, 1764. After having circumnavigated the my globe, he returned at the end of two yean to England, where he arrived in May, 1766. Although in Byron's voyage was not fruitful in disooveries, it still deserves an honourable place in the history of voyages round the world, since he was the first of the those renowned circumnavigators of the globe, including Wallis, Carteret, and Cook, whose enterprises were not merely mercantile, but were directed to scientific objects. In 1769 Commodore Byron his was appointed to the government of Newfoundland, which he held till 1776. He was nused to the rank of vice-admiral of the white in 1779, and died in 1786. Such was his general ill fortune at sea, that he was called by the sailors * Foul-weather Jack.* BYRONS ISLAND, a small island in the Pacific, about 12 miles in length, abounding in oocoa trees. It was discovered by Commodore Byron in 1765. Lon. 177° 45' B.; lat 1' 18' 8.